This invention relates to remote controlled systems having a remote controller and a controlled device. More particularly, this invention relates to remote controlled systems that employ a computer-based facilitator that enables a non-dedicated remote controller to control other devices.
Remote controlled systems have been around for many years. People are familiar with remote controlled televisions, stereos, VCRs (video cassette recorders), and other such commercial products.
FIG. 1 shows a traditional remote control system 100 having a remote controller 102 that is specially configured to control exactly one associated controlled device 104. The dedicated remote controller 102 uses proprietary communication schemes to transmit signals via a wireless link 108 (e.g., infrared, RF) directly to the controlled device 104. For instance, a television remote controller is designed with dedicated buttons to control one associated television by sending proprietary channel up/down signals, volume control signals, and so forth, in response to user activation of the buttons. Due to the proprietary nature, the television remote controller cannot be used to control other devices, such as a stereo system or VCR.
Universal remote controllers make it possible to control more than one device. Universal remote controllers have generic user interfaces, such as a numeric keypad, control buttons, and a multi-positional actuator pad, which can be used to control several devices like a television, VCR, and set top box. Unfortunately, universal remote controls are complicated, often difficult to program, and hence, are not always very flexible.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved remote controlled systems that enable inexpensive controllers to control multiple different devices without the hassles of pre-programming such controllers.
A remote controlled system employs a computer-based remote control facilitator to facilitate remote control of a controlled device from a non-dedicated remote controller. The computer facilitator is coupled to the remote controller and controlled device via a wireless or wire-based network. Neither the remote controller nor the controlled device need have any awareness of the other, or any knowledge as to how to communicate with one another. In fact, both devices can be completely unrelated to one another, particularly in terms of what a user would perceive as their primary or intended use. For instance, the remote controller may be a cell phone and the controlled device might be a television or stereo. More generally, the remote controlled system allows any device with some form of user interface to control, via the computer-based facilitator, any other device.
In the described implementation, the computer facilitator is a general-purpose computer that runs an open platform operating system. The computer facilitator executes a software application that corresponds to the controlled device. The application contains program code, data, information, and any other intelligence that may be used by the computer facilitator to assist the remote controller in controlling the controlled device.
During operation, the computer facilitator senses that a remote controller is nearby. As one example, the facilitator, remote controller, and controlled device are compatible with the universal plug and play (UPnP) architecture. With UPnP, the facilitator can learn the existence of potential devices as well as the information (an IP address) needed establish TCP/IP connections to them. The remote controller provides a description of its capabilities and components and this description is stored as schema at the facilitator.
From the schema, the computer facilitator chooses an appropriate user interface based on the physical properties of the remote control device and on the device to be controlled. The UI provides options to the user, and allows the user to select a desired option. This selection is returned to the computer facilitator. The remote controller has no inherent or pre-configured knowledge of the controlled device, or any way to control it. The remote controller simply presents the options received from the computer facilitator and returns the user""s choice.
The application running at the computer facilitator translates the user""s selection into a command that is sent to the controlled device. The command directs the controlled device to perform an action related to the option selected by the user.
The remote controlled system is very beneficial in that an inexpensive remote controller can be used to control many unrelated devices in homes and offices. The remote controller need not be tied to a specific brand or model of controlled device nor understand what it is doing; rather, the remote controller gains its power and flexibility from the general-purpose computer.
In fact, the remote controller may be a device that one would not expect to be used for controlling other devices. For instance, the remote controller may be implemented as a cell phone with an LCD display and numeric keypad. This cell phone may be controlled by the computer facilitator to present menus used to control a living room stereo system. The cell phone does not have to know anything about music playback, but simply shows on its screen the menus provided by the computer. The cell phone reports the button presses back to the computer without any knowledge of what those presses mean.
Another specific implementation of the remote controlled system is a clock radio. In this implementation, the clock radio consists of a clock/UI, one or more speakers, and a general-purpose computer that facilitates remote control of the speakers from the clock/UI.